Be Not Afraid of Greatness
by Magenta Ann
Summary: A chronicle of the coming of age of the Starfleet cadets in light of troubled times. An Orion and a Vulcan seek solace in each other, aliens in a predominantly human adventure. Spock x Gaila.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer;; I don't own any of these characters. So. Yeah. Usual disclaimer-y stuff applies. Thanks to my lovely beta T'Key'la for putting up with me! Haha.

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"Um… a corpus callosum has something to do with fucking, right?" Gaila tossed her red curls over her shoulder. Her blue eyes reflected only boredom, but for once, she was interested in learning the answer. Gaila was never one to become particularly panicked about academia, but as the final exams of senior year were only a day away….

Bones furrowed his brow in quizzical amusement. Jim snorted and choked on a gulp of Max-Trimethyl Cola. Uhura alone seemed to be unimpressed by her friend's peculiarities, and only scowled.

"Not everything is about sex, Gaila. The corpus callosum is the part of the brain that controls inter-hemispheric communication. How can you not know that? It's the largest white matter structure in the brains of most humanoids! Didn't you pay any attention _at all _to the notes on contralateral axonal projections? Gaila! Are you listening?" Uhura's lips tightened and her neck stiffened in the telltale signs of exasperation.

"Oh, God… I am so screwed." The green-skinned Gaila sunk in her seat, chewing nervously on her lip. She began to pick fretfully at the pizza in front of her. Sauce stained the tips of her fingers and cheese collected under her long nails. Tears sprang to her eyes. Between failing her anatomy exam and xenolinguistics exam, when would she have time for a new manicure? She gave an exasperated cry, crunching the piece of burned pepperoni that was stuck to her palm.

From across the table, Jim slurped noisily at his cola and proceeded to cram a forkful of spaghetti into his mouth. "You wun thum?" he asked, voice muffled by pasta, as he extended his drink to Gaila. She raised a hand in rejection, repulsed by the mass of partially masticated noodles that showed from his mouth as he spoke.

"Ugh… why the hell do I consider you a friend, you pig?" she snapped, turning to look at Uhura, who was primly dabbing the grease from her garlic bread. Gaila wanted to whine, or cry, or throw a tantrum. She knew that Uhura would have no sympathy for her. She never did. Gaila made a firm metal resolution to terminate her friendship with Cadet Uhura. Such resolutions never lasted long. Gaila, true to her passionate race, had a quick temper, but rarely stayed angry for long, particularly when it concerned her roommate.

Uhura was a willowy, pretty girl, but in every other way different from herself. Uhura was, in the kindest sense of the term, a stuffy, undersexed shrew. Regardless, she'd comforted a homesick Gaila in their freshman year, encouraged her to exercise even when she was on her period, and never let her eat too many calories or spend too many credits on a pair of shoes. Nyota Uhura was a good friend.

When Uhura could be convinced to abandon the lab for the town, the pair made quite a stir. Gaila's striking jade skin and Nyota's creamy coffee complexion certainly stood out when they left the Academy grounds. As Gaila deemed appropriate, her friend drew still less attention than she. It was to be expected. Though Kenyans were uncommon, Orion women were beyond rare.

Suddenly, Gaila leapt to her feet. "Ok, I am so _not _gonna fail my senior year. I told Pasha and Sulu I was gonna meet them to study, and you know what? I'm actually gonna go!" She looked slightly giddy as she smoothed her red cadet uniform, a completely dull red sack of a thing. She'd attempted once to improve it by raising the hemline a few inches. Apparently, that was against Academy Code 328, and the disciplinary staff had not been pleased. They seemed to believe quite firmly that she would never graduate. Well, she would show them! Gaila bounded towards the library hall with a graceful, light-footed gait.

The library was not a place that she spent a great deal of time in. Her boisterous personality was not suited to silence, and quelling her desire to laugh loudly and speak louder was rather difficult. The tight-lipped librarian didn't intimidated her in the least, and Gaila would not have been afraid to call for her friends. However, they were in plain view, sparing her another run-in with the disciplinary staff.

Hikaru Sulu and Pavel Chekov were decent boys, the disposable kind who required little work to be friends with.

"If the laser's trajectory is 323 degrees, what is the probability that it will strike the nuclear vessels we are attempting locate?" Sulu read a physics program from his PADD.

"But vhy vould ve be lookink for ze nuclear wessels?" Chekov responded, eyes wide with young, foolish curiosity.

"Jesus, Chekov."

Gaila giggled at their brother-like bickering, and dropped comfortably into an open chair beside the pair. "Sorry I'm late. So, what's the deal? Astrophysics? Piece of cake." She grabbed Sulu's PADD and scanned the problem several times. Math, engineering, and advanced computer sciences were the Orion's forte. However, these word problems confused her. Why couldn't the writers just relay the situation? Why did there always have to be some convoluted scenario? She took a pen in hand, and slowly began to scratch out the unnecessary words, leaving only the numbers behind. With a burst of excitement, she realized that she knew what to do. With a pleased squeal, she took pen to paper again and began to solve the set of equations. "Ta-DAA! And here it is boys. 43.1 percent chance of striking the nuclear wessels." Gaila laughed, fondly mocking Chekov's accent. Sulu rolled his eyes while Chekov dipped his head and grinned sheepishly.

"Since when are you smart, Gaila?" Sulu asked, placing the physics PADD in his bag.

"Hey, give me some credit. If it has numbers or a dick, I can do it." She winked at her Japanese-American study partner. He wasn't phased, as he was used to her blunt manner of speech. Chekov, however, still blushed at her words, vigorously shaking his head like a child.

"But seriously, I'm not worried about this stuff. It's Spock's test I'm worried about. I can't and never will be able to speak Romulan, Andorian, Vulcan, or whatever we're supposed to be learning. It all sounds the same to me. It took me long enough to learn Standard." Some of the spunk left her blue eyes, and she sank back into the chair, wishing she had been assigned a different professor for xenolinguistics. Spock was notoriously tough on his students, and she envied those who had professors that were content to have their students reading Klingon proverbs.

"Did you study ze wocab?" Chekov asked kindly before launching into a listing of words and their translations. Gaila was dismayed to find that she didn't even know what the words meant in Standard, and dropped her head onto the table with a loud 'thud.'

"You guys… I am so fucked," Gaila murmured, looking hopelessly up at her friends. Sulu gave a sympathetic shrug, while Chekov knitted his eyebrows in worry for the Orion.

"Wow. You really are bad at this language stuff. If I were you, I'd go see the Commander. You'll have to sit through a lecture about the evils of procrastination, but it'll keep you from failing." Sulu advised, scribbling further notes into his PADD.

Gaila rolled her eyes, surprised that he would even suggest that. Just thinking about that self-righteous Vulcan made her angry, and she launched onto one of her famously emotional and exaggerated slippery slopes. "I would rather fail his test, have to become a streetwalker to support myself, live out of dumpsters, and ultimately get stabbed to death by a crack dealer than have to spend extra time with that pointy-eared prick."

Chekov's large eyes widened further, and he stopped studying. He was a nervous and innocent boy. Gaila was accustomed to his shocked responses to her emphatic outbursts, but when Sulu also began to look uncomfortable, she began to get concerned. Taking a deep breath, she turned around, already instinctually knowing that Commander Spock was standing behind her.

"Cadet Gaila, I must request that when in public places you will at least attempt to refrain from both coarse speech in regards to your superiors and the overuse of logical fallacies in your arguments." He stood rigidly, as usual, spine straight as a poker, hands locked behind his back. He had the face of a statue and the ears of the devil. "I am hardly surprised that you have failed to prepare adequately for my exam. That being said, I would not be opposed to the idea of helping you to prepare. The chances of your failure will be 43.83213 percent. However, it is my duty as an instructor to aid students in their study habits, particularly in regards to final examinations. You will proceed to my office in 10.3 minutes. Tardiness is, as always, unacceptable."

As he strode away with quick, measured steps, she was left gaping, shocked at what she'd managed to get herself into. A tense silence passed. Sulu attempted to stifle his laughter, but failed. Even Chekov began to laugh.

Gaila rose numbly to her feet.

Her life was hell.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to my real life friend KCjonesing for her thorough beta'ing! Usual disclaimers apply.

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Gaila found herself at the door to Spock's office no less than four minutes early. To some, it would seem to be a small margin, but to the Orion, spending an extra four minutes with her professor was equivalent to having her teeth systemically removed. Exactly 10.3 minutes from the time Spock had asked her to arrive at his door, she timidly entered, not bothering to knock. It wasn't as if he wouldn't be expecting her.

Surely enough, he was waiting, sitting sternly in his chair, fingertips pressed ponderously together.

"Cadet."

"Commander."

She wondered if the commander had ever been hugged. What a sad existence that would be; to never be hugged. Perhaps that was why he was such a grumpy man. Though, she'd heard that all Vulcans acted as such. Did the Vulcan race in general not participate in the humanoid phenomenon of the embrace? That certainly seemed to explain a lot. As Spock began to lecture her, the words droning on and on, she began to conceive a plan for a new sort of business endeavor-- HFGV, or, Hugs for Grumpy Vulcans. It would be a humanitarian effort. Volunteers would flock from around the galaxy to show love to the stiff desert people. Gaila snorted. Somehow, she didn't think the Vulcans would appreciate their efforts. Maybe it just wouldn't be possible to hug them. Maybe they possessed a sort of… biological force field that would repel any interaction of a cuddly nature. She began to giggle, her thoughts turning ridiculous, even for her.

After a few minutes of quiet laughter, she realized that Spock was no longer speaking, and was staring intensely at his green student. Gaila clapped a hand over her mouth, almost embarrassed- but Orions were never truly ashamed of anything.

"Sorry, Commander. You can keep talking now." She told him breezily, as if she were merely granting him her time.

"As I had been informing you before your illogical display of misplaced amusement, you will not pass my exam tomorrow. Is this beyond your comprehension? The averages of your last exam grades stand at only 23% correctness. You are the only student who has ever received zero credit on an exam in my course." He told her sternly. Gaila's perky smile vanished. When had she gotten a zero on an exam…? Vaguely, she remembered Spock passing back exams some weeks ago. She hadn't looked at her grade, only used the paper as a wrapping for her breakfast sandwich. Better that be stained with bacon grease than her immaculately moisturized hands. Gaila mentally conceded that it would be possible to have utterly failed that particular exam.

"Fuck!" Gaila exclaimed violently, temperamentally stamping a black boot on the floor as the realized that failing her senior year was a very real possibility.

"Indeed." He professor responded dryly. "I have transferred a remedial course guide to your PADD. I created the program myself, for students of lesser intelligence or, in your case, motivation. The condensed course may be completed in approximately 10.54 hours. In the terms of the Terrans, I wish you luck. Dismissed." He turned his back to her and proceeded to enter strings of calculations into his personal research computer.

Gaila looked down at the PADD, checking the time. It was already past 1900 hours. She wouldn't be able to finish studying until at least 0530 hours; the exam was at 0600. The entire situation was looking more and more impossible. There was no way that she could complete the review course and have enough energy to take and pass the exam. Gaila knew of only one solution. She let her eyes flutter closed and took a moment to think about the worst things that she could possibly call to mind. Prominent among them were Terran cosmetics, celibacy, and dead puppies.

Mere moments passed before tears welled up in her large blue eyes. She was well skilled in fields of persuasion. With quiet grace, she slipped closer to the professor. "Oh, sir, I… I just don't think I can do this… Please, isn't there anything else you can do? If I fail, then… then I might have to go back to Orion I, oh please, sir, I don't want to be a slave…" She began to wail pathetically, wringing her hands as she began to become more actively involved in her performance.

The lieutenant commander did not react. He did not speak. He did not turn to face her. He did nothing. He merely continued calculating. Gaila sniffled with as much misery as she could muster. Still, nothing. She stopped crying; it expended too much effort for too little effect. Her heart began to beat faster. No, no, this couldn't happen. She was not going to fail. She crept towards him again, placing a hand on his shoulder. Spock immediately stiffened, though Gaila noted that no force field repelled her.

"You know… professor…" She murmured coyly. "I did learn a few things on Orion I… Being a slave had its benefits… I could show you, if you want…" She purred, though she felt a sinking in her stomach. Since beginning her pheromone suppressing regimen at the Academy, she had never had further success at seducing a man to such a level that they would do her every bidding. She doubted this would work.

It didn't.

"Cadet, you will remove yourself from my person. It is true that Terrans know little of your culture, but I am not Terran. I know fully well the true nature of your slavery on Orion. For you to return to your planet would result in no discomfort for you." His eyebrows knitted together slightly in a very small display of irritation at her antics. Gaila's eyes widened, still wet from false tears. So he knew that it was the women who controlled Orion, under the pretense of abuse and sexual slavery. Gaila knew then that all chances she had of receiving an exam exemption or grading curve were completely and utterly destroyed. No, not destroyed, annihilated.

"I suggest that you return to your dormitory and begin your studies." The Vulcan turned back to his computer. Anger boiled under Gaila's skin. No doubt, he was being intentionally obtuse. He was trying to irritate her, wasn't he? He wanted her to fail, that pointy-eared bastard! She leapt to her feet and flung her PADD onto the floor.

"Fine! You know what, I don't even need your stupid notes! So… so there!" She flicked her red hair over her shoulder, trotting pointedly from his office. Gaila had nearly reached the end of the hallway when her shoulder sagged; she needed the notes. Attempting to hold her head high, she whipped open the door to his office and retrieved her PADD. "And just so you know, I'm only taking this because it has all 49 episodes of 'Syndicate Sickbay.'"

As she stormed from his office a second time, Spock turned slowly to watch her go. He raised an eyebrow, both perturbed and bewildered. How could a sickbay have episodes…? He couldn't help but feel that he was yet again missing vital pop culture information.


End file.
